DHAKA: Apan Jewellers owner Dildar Ahmed was granted bail in the cases filed over hoarding gold illegally.
An HC bench of Justices M Enayetur Rahim and Shahidul Karim passed the order.
Now there is no legal bar to free Dildar Ahmed, said his lawyers as the bail order came out Sunday (January 21).
Lawyer MA Amin Uddin and Barrister Mehedi Hasan Chowdhury moved for the owners of Apan Jewellers including Dildar.
The HC on December 14 granted bail to the three owners of the Apan Jewellers-- Dildar Ahmed, Gulzar Ahmed and Azad Ahmed-- in three cases out of five filed against them. The court then kept the bail petition in two other cases stand over for one month.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court stayed the bail order of the HC, responding an appeal from the state.
Lawyers said that the bail order given by the HC is now effective as the plea filed by the state was dismissed on January 8. The lawyers also then said that bail order for the three brothers among the accused was uphold on terms of keeping their passports consigned. But Dildar Ahmed couldn’t be freed upon bail as he was facing more two cases.
Afterwards, he was granted bail in the two cases on January 16 and January 21 separately.
The cases were filed over huge amount of gold seizure from separate branches of the Apan Jewellers. The cases were recorded under the Money Laundering Act and the Customs Act on charges of concealing information in their evidence about 15 maunds of gold and diamond which were smuggled in the country.
The CIID officials seized the 15 maunds of gold and diamonds from different showrooms of Apan Jewellers upon specific allegations following the rape incident in Banani. Later, the seized gold had been deposited to the Bangladesh Bank.
The Apan Jewellers came in the limelight after rape of two private university girls in Banani. The incident happened in the Raintree hotel in Banani on March 28.
One of the victims filed a case with Banani police station on May 6 accusing five people, including Safat Ahmed. The police had managed to arrest the five rape accused.
Dildar Ahmed Selim is father of Safat Ahmed, while Gulzar Ahmed and Azad Ahmed are his two brothers.
BDST: 1435 HRS, JAN 21, 2018
SI
